Why Data Center Hosting Websites Market to Crickets

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” -- Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley (1685- 1753). Over 300 years ago, if no one heard the tree fall, you had to wonder if the tree really fell.

“If you build it, he will come.” -- 1989 American fantasy-drama film Field of Dreams. Applied literally, Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones sold us a bill of goods in that iconic movie. But in the early 20^th century, with far fewer entertainment and educational options (ESPN wasn’t even imagined until the late 1970s), your success in building a baseball field where legends would appear may be a pretty solid business plan.

Today, applying the same wisdom to data center hosting websites, you’ll strike out every time. If you build a website for your hosting firm and no one visits your website that matters – mainly potential clients – did you really “build” a website?

In this post, excerpted from the eBook “Inbound Marketing for Colocation Data Centers,” we’ll look at why so many data center hosting websites spin their wheels, attract virtually no strangers that matter, and end up marketing to crickets. But even more importantly, you’ll learn what you can do to avoid becoming that next statistic that was merely sold on the “Field of Dreams” vision.

Promote Your Content To Get In Front Of The Right Eyeballs

It’s not enough to just create remarkable content. Promotion is key.

So, balance your efforts between content creation and content promotion. A good back of the napkin guideline is a 50/50 split.

Think about it this way. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did the tree really fall? If you write a blog post and no one reads it, did you really write the blog post?

Watch Out for the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person’s Opinion)

But when it comes to promoting your content, be aware of the HIPPO -- the highest paid person’s opinion, who invariably has very strong views about where to promote content.

The problem, however, is that your HIPPO -- or CEO if we’re being more tactful -- isn’t in most cases part of a buyer persona that you’re trying to attract to your data center hosting website.

So, if you’re trying to prioritize your content promotion efforts, your buyer personas should be the ones who call the shots.

In fact, discovering favorite "watering holes" is one of the main reasons why Inbound marketers invest the time in creating buyer personas. There’s no reason to guess what blogs they read, what social media channels they use, what trade groups they belong to, or what conferences they attend.

Good, solid persona research uncovers that critical consensus you need to get your remarkable content in front of the right potential clients.

What strategies have you used to make sure that your company’s website attracts the right visitors that are most similar to your ideal clients? Share your favorite tip in the Comments below.

And if you want to make sure that you’re able to attract, convert, close, and delight your ideal clients to your data center hosting website, make sure that you download and read the eBook “Inbound Marketing for Colocation Data Centers.”